Hyperdrive
Musk's Outback Success Points to Bright Future for Battery Storage
- South Australian plant has responded rapidly to system outages
- More batteries will be rolled out in Australia, South Korea
This article is for subscribers only.
A year after Elon Musk rolled out what was then the world’s biggest lithium-ion battery to aid South Australia’s blackout-prone power grid, more projects are set to follow in its footsteps at home and abroad.
The Hornsdale storage facility -- the result of Musk’s successful wager that he could build and get it up and running within 100 days -- has helped the state stabilize the grid, avoid outages and lower costs. Its success is a boost to other plants commissioned around the world, including a larger one in South Korea.